


"nobody needs a criminal"

by 5secondsoflashton



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Angst, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Fugitives, M/M, Minor Character Death, Suicidal Thoughts, Violence, graphic descriptions of death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-10
Updated: 2014-04-10
Packaged: 2018-01-18 21:47:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,252
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1444051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/5secondsoflashton/pseuds/5secondsoflashton
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>saving ashton is all luke wants</p>
            </blockquote>





	"nobody needs a criminal"

**Author's Note:**

> this idea came to me so i wrote it
> 
> i apologise in advance because this is the first time I've written complete au, so it's probably terrible
> 
> this is also on my own wattpad, mashton5sos
> 
> IF YOU REPOST I WILL END YOU
> 
> but enjoy :)

Luke Hemmings had always been a man, who stuck to his principles. He was a man of honesty, a person who followed the rules no matter what. Anyone who ever met Luke would have told you those things, even people that hadn't met the man would say those things too; it was just his reputation. Even in the present day, everyone believed that Luke could still fulfil all this criteria. Well, apart from Luke himself.

As a special agent, for Luke to not follow the rules or stick to what was right was against everything. He could be arrested, thrown off of the service and in extreme cases 'be disposed of.' None of that mattered anymore. He didn't break the rules alone and didn't intend on facing up to the consequences. After all, nobody knew the agent had lied, nobody knew he'd helped a criminal escape and he was almost content with it being that way.

  
~~

  
Robert Clifford currently sat alone in a train carriage. It been a long day for the man. The constant travelling, identity changing and clothing style swapping was getting to him, but he knew he had to keep it up; it would have to be kept up for the rest of his life.

Robert Clifford's real name was Luke Hemmings. His alias felt fitting to him: his middle name and the surname of one of his old best friends. That thought made Luke feel slightly down. He could never contact his friends again, but he could deal with that. It was his own choices that brought him to this, so of course he was to blame for sealing his own fate. 

"I bought you a Coke, because I wasn't quite sure what you wanted or even if you wanted anything at all," A deep, honeyed voice said, breaking the silence of the carriage.

Glancing up from his solid glare on the table, Luke noticed the one guy he was able to speak to from his past life: Ashton Irwin. The twenty-three year old was glowing in the sunlight that was coming through the window and Luke's breath found itself lodged in his throat. 

"That's fine, Ash," Luke breathed, taking the bottle from Ashton's large hand.

"Shh, you can't call me that here, ok? We're in a public place. If anyone overhears and catches on, we're screwed," Ashton whispered, taking the seat opposite Luke.

Luke remembered the situation the two men were in and why it wasn't a good one, but without his ultimate sacrifice, Ashton would likely be dead. However, the agent didn't regret his decision; he'd protect Ashton all over again in a heartbeat. 

It didn't bother Luke that Ashton was a criminal. All he knew was that, for some reason, Ashton had exploited his Special Agent title and had gone down the corrupted route. The two men had been travelling together for months, yet Ashton had never gone in to detail about his dealings. Luke didn't want to push the elder man to tell him of his crimes, despite the fact he'd given up everything for Ashton. He knew he'd tell him when he was ready.

The day the whole ordeal began was permanently etched into Luke's mind. The memory often surfaced and he couldn't help himself, when he fell into a state of reminiscence. 

 

~~

 

For days on end, Special Agent Luke Hemmings had been searching for his most recent assignment. The twenty-one year old, who happened to be one of the youngest agents on the force, was sent to find Ashton Irwin, an ex-agent, who had gone rogue. 

The task was horrible to Luke. He was good friends with Ashton, before everything had happened, and he honestly couldn't believe the accusations he'd heard accompanied by the elder man's name. He was not about to ruin his career by refusing the job straight up, so that was how he ended up finding a lead and heading towards it. 

On arrival to a small house in the suburbs of Sydney, Luke quickly contacted HQ, asking them to send in back up if he didn't respond again in the next half an hour. The respondent was yelling at him for not taking other agents with him in the first place, as it was unorthodox to go at it alone, but Luke insisted he'd be fine, before shutting the receiver off. 

The blond surveyed the house. It seemed abandoned and was oddly calm. Nothing seemed out of place, besides that lack of noise, so Luke cautiously headed in through the front door, his hand gun raised in one hand.

Ashton was nowhere in sight, so Luke began to poke around, looking for any signs that the man would be hiding here. 

When no leads were found downstairs, Luke began to ascend the stairs, only to hear a loud curse coming from one of the rooms. That made him pick up his pace and push the door open, revealing a flustered looking Ashton in one of the rooms.

The twenty-three year old wasn't in good shape, even if it only had been several days since he disappeared and went on the run. Ashton's usually bouncy golden waves were flat and knotted and the hazel of his eyes seemed dull and detached. His usual toned body was beginning to slim and Luke could tell the man hadn't eaten much in a while.

With his handgun pointed straight at Ashton, Luke moved further into the room, which lead to the other man raising his hands into the air. 

"I'm sorry, Luke. I swear I'm sorry," Ashton mumbled, looking away from the blond's eyes. 

Luke didn't respond, but moved even closer to Ashton, reaching down to find his handcuffs with shaky hands. Even if Ashton was a criminal, he didn't want to be the one to capture the man. They were friends after all and he couldn't help but feel sorry for the elder man, despite all that he'd done.

"My family. Oh God. I've failed, haven't I? No, no," Ashton said, breaking down into hysterical sobs and Luke couldn't decipher his words. What did he mean?

It was at that moment, Ashton with tears streaming down his cheeks, looking vulnerable, that everything Luke's lived by flew out of the window. He wasn't about to send Ashton to his inevitable imprisonment and possible death. The man meant too much to him and even if he had committed a crime, Luke still cared for him.

"Run away with me, Ashton," Luke breathed, before he could even process it.

Ashton's sobs slowed down and the man looked up to meet Luke's blue eyes. 

"Are you crazy?! Luke, I'm a criminal. I'm not letting you throw your whole life away for me. We won't get far and if they find out you helped me escape, they'll kill you! I'm not letting you suffer for my benefit. Just take me in," Ashton exclaimed, holding his wrists out in front of him for the cuffs, and the fact that he wasn't even resisting arrest or accepting the plans, made Luke's heart clench.

"I don't care. I'm not going to take you in. I'm going to escape with you. I'm going to be by your side for the rest of your life. I don't care what you've done. You mean too much to me for me to lose you. We'll stay running. We can change our identities and clothes. Nobody will notice us if we're careful, Ash," Luke stated, his hand falling onto Ashton's stubbly cheek.

"They'll be after us forever, Luke. They won't stop chasing us. I don't know if I can live with that, and what about you? Luke, I won't let you go against everything you stand for! I won't be able to live with myself. _Please_ , just take me in and get this over with," Ashton pleaded.

Ignoring the golden haired man's words, Luke took off all his receivers and any gadgets that would allow him to be tracked on. He threw away everything onto the floor, although kept anything that may come in handy for their future.

"I don't care," Luke said, demandingly, before Ashton seemed to finally cave.

"If you're sure this is what you want, but if I ever, ever feel like a burden, I'm going to hand myself in," Ashton murmured, knowing he wouldn't be able to sway Luke. The man would probably end up sedating him to get what he wanted.

Luke didn't ask Ashton for anything else. The pair of them just got what the needed, upped and left.

  
~~

  
When the train finally stopped, the two men clambered off and into the streets of Melbourne. Luke led the way, as he'd visited several times before, while Ashton trailed along beside him. 

Nobody spared them a second glance. The two of them were kitted out in their disguises for the month. Luke dressed in a punkish way, with dark skinny jeans and band t-shirts. He'd even gone all out and gotten a lip piercing to further his cover up identity. He had even considered dying his hair black, but Ashton had insisted that he didn't, as he loved Luke's blond hair, so instead he had pulled on a snapback over a brunette wig. 

Ashton, however, wore looser fitted t-shirts with lighter skinny jeans. The man had a pair of slip on shoes on his feet and a black fedora lay on top of his golden curls. A pair of sunglasses covered his eyes and fresh stubble littered his chin. 

If Luke was being completely honest with himself, the sight of Ashton dressed up as he was made him feel weak at the knees. It was probably the best look Ashton had worn over the past months and Luke couldn't deny his attraction to the elder man any longer. It had always been there, but since the pair of them had evaded their past lives, Luke's feelings had grown significantly. 

On several occasions in the past, the two agents had shared a kiss. The action was always initiated by Luke, who used it to calm Ashton, or shut him up during his anxious ramblings. Luke wasn't even sure if you could class it as a kiss, Ashton never responded or made any indication that he shared the same feelings as Luke, but nevertheless, it calmed the man, which was intended.

"Hey," Ashton whispered, grabbing Luke's arm and turning him to look at a television in a electronics shop window.

Following Ashton's gaze onto one television in particular, Luke saw his face plastered onto the screen with the caption: ' _Twenty-One Year Old Missing from Sydney_.' Beside the picture of Luke, one of Ashton came up and from the subtitles on the screen, he could tell that they were inferring that Ashton had kidnapped him.

"This is bullshit. They think you kidnapped me. Hell, if they knew that the real reason you weren't in a federal prison or even dead was because I had suggested that we run away, they'd probably shit themselves," Luke muttered, keeping his voice down so that only Ashton would be able to hear him.

"I'd rather it this way. At least if we ever get caught, you'll be safe. I deserve to take the rap for all of this. It's my fault we're in this mess," Ashton whispered, dragging Luke away from the electronics store, as despite their disguises, people might be able to piece the facts together if they were stood by a picture of themselves.

"No, no, no. I don't want you in even more trouble than you already are. People are going to think you're a monster. Your family is going to hate you, Ash," The blond mumbled, leaning over to Ashton's ear to speak to him.

The twenty-three year old flinched at the mention of his family and didn't respond to Luke, but instead began to weave his way through the people in the streets. He didn't know where he was going, because Luke had decided on where the two of them would be staying for a few days, but he still continued to walk away.

Reacting quickly to Ashton's getaway, Luke ran to catch up with him, but managed to tumble into a passing man, knocking the snapback from his head, but luckily his wig stayed in place. His snapback was passed back to him by the man he'd hit and Ashton came running over to help him onto his feet.

"I'm sorry about that," The man said, while Luke frantically pulled his snapback onto his head.

"It was my fault. I'm the one who is sorry," The agent muttered, before Ashton grasped his hand and began to tug on it softly.

Just as the two men were about to leave, the man Luke had bumped into suddenly had his gaze fall on a timid Ashton. The two of them looked at each other for a moment, before Ashton was dragging Luke down the street.

The action startled Luke, so he stopped Ashton once they were a whole block away.

"Are you okay?" The blond whispered, gently rubbing his hand up and down Ashton's arm.

"I just thought I recognised the bloke. I'm-I'm not sure. He just looked familiar and I thought if he noticed it was us he'd take us away and I'd lose you and-" Ashton babbled, but was cut off by Luke's lips acting as his calming remedy.

"It's okay. I'm still here. We're fine," Luke said, reassuring Ashton of their safety. "Now, come on. We need to get to the place we're staying. It should still be in tact; Michael and I came here just before we ran away. It's a quiet little building." 

Eventually, the two men arrived at what looked like a small abandoned warehouse. It wasn't very big and only seemed to have one floor, but it was just what the two men needed for a few days. 

The key was soon picked up from underneath a pile of heavy rocks, which Luke could just about lift on his own, due to the extensive physical training he had to do to get into the service. He'd done it only a couple of years ago. 

On opening the door and locking it behind them, a small, peaceful set up was shown: two mattresses lay close to each other in one corner of the room, both of them being double; a heater lay close to the make shift beds, looking stone cold for the time being; a battered sofa was present near a wooden table, which seemed to be a bit worn itself; and lastly, a worktop with some cupboards, a sink, kettle and microwave was present at another end of the room. 

"It's cosy in here," Ashton murmured, wandering through the room. "Did you buy the place?" 

"Yeah. I found it once when I was on an assignment. Nobody owned it, so I guess I sort of purchased it for myself. Michael and I did it up a little, so when we come here we have a place to stay," Luke explained, before flicking a switch that seemed to turn on the room's electricity, as a faint buzzing could be heard. 

The lights weren't needed for the moment, as it was still bright outside, but Luke used the water from the sink to fill the kettle up and boil some water. He then rummaged through his backpack and pulled out some coffee beans, placing them in two cups he had pulled out from the cupboard.

Luke found himself letting out a chuckle, when Ashton yelled: 

"That better be fresh water!"

And thank God it was.

  
~~

  
Evening had soon fallen upon them. The curtains that Luke had installed were pulled across and the lights were dimly on. The disguises the two men wore were long forgotten and Luke had even managed to find Ashton a pair of Michael's sweatpants, which he'd left, for him to wear. 

At this point, Luke sat on one mattress, whereas Ashton sat on the other and the two men had been nattering away about memories of the past week. That was until Ashton had taken a shaky breath, startling Luke.

"I think that it's time that I tell you," Ashton whispered, braving a glance up at Luke.

The breath in Luke's throat felt as though it had gotten lodged there. Was Ashton really about to tell him the full details of what he'd done?

"One day, I think it must've been at least a year ago now, I was sat at home. I think I'd just got off work for the day after filling out piles of paperwork. Anyway, that doesn't matter." Ashton paused, taking a breath. "My landline phone rang and I answered it to hear some random guy. He told me that- He told me-"

Seeing that Ashton was struggling with his words, Luke jumped over to the mattress he was on, wrapping an arm loosely around Ashton's waist and placing his chin on his shoulder, as encouragement for him to continue.

"He said he had my family. He even passed the phone to my mum. She was sobbing and telling me not to do anything the man asked, then he hurt her."

The wavy haired man was now shaking, so Luke rubbed his hand up and down his side. He knew he could probably kiss him to resolve the anxiety, but it wasn't an appropriate time and it'd likely stop Ashton from fully confessing.

"It's okay, Ash. Take your time," Luke breathed.

"The man- _he knew_ , Lukey. He knew I was a special agent and he wanted me to do things for him in return for my family's safety. He asked me to launder money for him, find out information on things, give him the latest firepower, all those sorts of things. He promised to release them, but then I got caught and now they're probably dead, because I failed. I couldn't keep them alive and now I'm dragging you down too. You don't deserve this. I'm just a criminal. _Nobody needs a criminal_."

Ashton was full on sobbing now, so Luke pulled the twenty-three year old into his chest. He felt sympathy for him. He understood why Ashton did what he did. 

"Ash, it's alright. I understand. I would do anything for my family, if they were still alive," Luke stated, gulping, remembering how he'd lost both of his parents at a young age doing the job he so foolishly decided to do too, to follow in their footsteps.

The blond cradled the other man in his arms, rocking him gently, as his sobs begun to cease. Ashton was clearly still torn up over his actions and the possible consequences of him being caught, which had happened and Luke thought that was likely why the man was sobbing even harder.

Eventually, Ashton had calmed and Luke pushed him back to arm's length, so he could take a glance at the hazel eyed man. Tears stained his cheeks, causing Luke to wipe them away with the pad of his thumb, delicately mopping up the dried tracks. 

Without realising it, Luke's thumb trailed to Ashton's plump, red lips that were slightly chapped from the heat. It ran across the bottom lip several times and Luke was enticed by the way it bounced every time pressure was put on it.

"Ash, I need to tell you something," Luke breathed, moving his thumb from Ashton's lip and averting his gaze to the hazel eyes of the ex-agent.

"What is it?" 

"I'm just going to come out and say it," Luke muttered, knowing that now was really his only chance to blurt out his feelings; it was the perfect moment. "I think I'm in love with you, Ashton Irwin."

There was nothing but static in Luke's brain, when Ashton had suddenly pushed the man back down onto the mattress and climbed on top of him. This was weird, as Ashton was always vulnerable and let Luke take charge, so for him to be so assertive in this way made Luke's body tingle.

Suddenly, Ashton was kissing Luke, causing the blond to gasp into the other's mouth. The younger lad then tangled his fingers into Ashton's waves, since he was being forced to be submissive and wasn't about to question Ashton's actions. 

One of Ashton's hands pressed tightly into Luke's hip and he used his other arm to support himself; his gigantic biceps allowed him to hold his body weight up with ease. 

Their lips moved together perfectly and the two of them felt entwined in the best possible ways: physically and emotionally. 

While Ashton was still hovering over him, Luke felt a loss of contact from his lips when Ashton had pulled away briefly to pant and stare into Luke's eyes.

"Do you want to or shall we stop?" Ashton stammered, his eyes darkening with ever growing need.

"Want to," Luke said, his breathing sped up.

The hazel eyed man leant down again to capture the blond's lips with his own, before Luke tried to gain the upper hand and flip Ashton down onto his back, but the boy refused to budge.

"Come on, Ash. I'm definitely the dominant one," Luke whined, but he was secretly turned on by Ashton's sudden need for dominance

The wavy haired man didn't respond, but instead rocked his hips into Luke's and began to suck at a spot on Luke's neck. The blond yelped out in pleasure. 

"Just let me, Luke. Please, I _need_ to," Ashton breathed and Luke just nodded, knowing he'd do whatever the man asked, as he was hopelessly in love with him.

In a few moments, every item of clothing either man was sporting disappeared into a pile on the floor and their two bodies became entwined for the night.

  
~~

  
When Luke awoke from his sleep, he could hear birds squawking signalling that the sun had likely just risen. The man stirred around, realising that one of his arms was painfully numb and there was a sharp pain in his lower back. If only Luke knew how much worse that would be when he stood up.

Before the blond moved around, he realised that Ashton was curled into one of his sides, lying on top of one of his arms, which explained the numbness. One of Ashton's arms rested over Luke's chest and his hand gripped at his shoulder. Ashton's head was pressed into the pillow just above Luke's other shoulder, his chin grazing the skin there. 

A small sigh passed Luke's lips at the sight of the twenty-three year old sleeping peacefully. He even felt the need to bring the arm that wasn't underneath Ashton's body up to the man's head and run his fingers delicately through the waves and curls.

Blue eyes trailed down the elder man's features, taking in every little detail, from the way a few freckles dotted his skin to the slight upturn of his nose. All of that added up to make Ashton's beauty one of a rarity.

Eventually, Luke's gaze fell on the bed sheet, which was lying gently atop Ashton's hips. That only made nostalgia overcome the blond; it was filling his mind and didn't seem to want to leave. He could almost feel Ashton's lips running across his neck and torso, leaving red marks in their wake. The pain in his back further reminded him of the best night of his life and next time, if there even was a next time, but Luke really hoped there would be, Ashton would be the one submitting. 

Deciding it was time to wake the sleeping man, Luke brought his hand up to Ashton's shoulder and shook it slowly, whispering sweet words to help him awake from his dreams. It was effective, as within a few seconds, Ashton's eyelids were fluttering and his hazel eyes were staring at Luke lazily. 

"Why hello, Mr Hemmings," Ashton breathed, his voice lower than usual, due to being thick with sleep.

"Hey," Luke whispered, contently, pulling Ashton further into his torso.

Luke wanted to cherish the moment for as long as possible and remember the exact feeling on having Ashton in his arms. It was a moment full of unexplainable emotion.

"I think it's time we get up, Lukey," Ashton mumbled. "We have to be on the safe side."

Nodding, Luke allowed the man to rise from the bed and begin pulling his previously discarded clothes on. The blond watched as Ashton's arms flexed, showing off his drool worthy biceps, as he pulled his t-shirt over his head. He also noticed the fact his back was covered in a few red lines, clearly from Luke's nails the previous night. 

Allowing himself to get off the mattress too, Luke quickly pulled on his items of clothing too, before wandering over to Ashton, wrapping his arms around his waist from behind and resting his chin on his shoulder.

"You're so handsome that it's frustrating," Luke breathed, causing Ashton to let out a small giggle.

"Your breath tickles," He replied, before a noise from outside startled both men. 

Springing away from Ashton, Luke rushed to the side of the mattress, where he'd placed their guns last night in case they needed them, picked up them both, threw Ashton his and held onto his own. They both backed up into the middle of the room, but back against the wall, so they couldn't be enclosed.

As secret agents, the two men knew how to hold their ground and they didn't even know if the noise was coming from straight outside the room, but they couldn't take any chances. What if the service had finally caught up with them?

When no noise was heard again for another five minutes, Luke decided it would be best if he went and checked it out from the front, while Ashton quickly skimmed the back. 

"It's going to be fine, Ash," Luke reassured the man, rubbing his free hand across the stubbly cheek of the man in front of him.

Once Luke had reached the front door, he slowly prised back part of the curtain to take a peek, but the door flew open and three men came charging in, each holding a rifle. Luke didn't want to fire, knowing he and Ashton were outnumbered and they'd probably end up dead first, so instead he tried to rush towards the other end of the room to group back up with Ashton. It was failed attempt, however, when one of the men grasped Luke in his hands, prising the handgun from his grip and pointing it at his head.

Now, Luke knew how to get the gun back in his grasp in general, but it was almost inevitable that it wouldn't work; he'd be shot by one of the other men and so would Ashton.

"Special Agent Ashton Irwin, it's _definitely_ a pleasure to see you," The man to Luke's left yelled, glaring at Ashton who was stood a few feet away, gun moving between each man.

That was when Luke recognised his voice. It was the man he'd bumped into yesterday, the one Ashton thought he knew. He must've traced them here, but Luke didn't know who he was. A good guess would've said that they were related to the reason Luke and Ashton were on the run.

"Let him go," Ashton demanded, his voice not wavering and Luke knew from the previous night that when Ashton wanted something, he got very determined.

"Now, wouldn't that just be the happy ending that you want," The man holding Luke chuckled, pushing the barrel of the gun further into Luke's head.

Ashton's eyes suddenly bulged in his head and Luke could see that the man's breathing had increased.

"It's you! You're the one who rang me that day! You bastard!" Ashton exclaimed and now Luke was able to catch on; these were the people who'd forced Ashton to do what he did.

"Calm it now, Irwin. I can easily put a bullet into his brain," The man yelled in response, before turning his attention to Luke, who he was so desperately clinging on to. "Hello, Special Agent Luke Hemmings. You're the man who was supposedly kidnapped by this criminal, but by the seems of things, that is most definitely not the case."

The way the man spoke of Ashton as a criminal made Luke's blood boil. The twenty-one year old wanted to punch the man hard in the face, but obviously that wasn't an option.

"So, Irwin, you failed, you got caught," The man to Luke's right mumbled. "You know what the deal was."

"Of course I know what the deal was, you-" Ashton blurted, but was cut off by the man holding Luke.

"That was the only leverage we had to not kill your family. They were only taking up useful space. You failed with the deal, so we fulfilled our end."

"You didn't- Please, no. Tell me you didn't!" Ashton shouted and Luke could tell the boy was getting anxious and angered. 

"Oh I did it _personally_. Thought it was fun to watch your mother scream, as I cut your brother's and sister's throats. It was great to watch her fall apart, unable to do anything about it. I went with your father next. Beat the fucker until he was barely able to breathe and then I shot him, forced him to re-watch his children's deaths, until he bled out and died on the floor. 

"For your mother, I told her stories of what perfect, little Ashton was up to and what we'd do to him the moment we located him. Broke her poor heart. I had her _beg_ to me for me to not lay a finger on you, until we gassed her in her sleep. _It's great to rid the world of useless beings_."

The emphasis and tone of pleasure present in the man's voice made Luke sick to his stomach; he was going to kill the bastard. 

Across from Luke, Ashton was crying, tears of anger and sadness streaming down his cheeks. The man dared to stalk closer to the men, clearly baying for blood, but stopping when the man pressed the barrel so hard into Luke's temple that the man let out an unintentional whimper.

"I swear to God, I will fucking kill you all! You sick bastards!" Ashton yelled, the gun shaking in his grip.

All three of the men laughed, obviously not taking the threat from Ashton seriously, as they had the clear upper hand. Even if he managed to kill one of them, he'd die and so would Luke.

"If only there was a way you could make it up to us," The man to Luke's left muttered. "Oh wait, there is."

Luke was almost scared for his next words. He was scared for Ashton mostly.

"We want you to give yourself up to us, become, let's say, an _employee_ to our little business. In return, we'll spare Blondie here. If not, this man's brains are going to be splattered against the wall. Is that what you want?"

Shaking his head gently from side to side, Luke glanced straight at Ashton to let him know that he was not to accept the deal and to try and off throw the men, before giving him a knowing look back and forth to the gun to his head, showing that he was plotting to subdue the man holding him. Luke then motioned with his eyes to the guy to his left, signalling that Ashton should shoot him first before taking the right.

"It's a deal," Ashton said, wandering closer ever so slightly.

At Ashton's words, Luke felt the grip the guy had on him loosen slightly, so gave Ashton another signal with his eyes to let him know he was about to go for the gun. Luke even mouthed a swift ' _I love you_ ,' knowing that the whole operation could easily go south.

Whilst the man holding Luke was speaking, the blond took his chances, expertly prising the gun from the man's grip and shooting him straight in the forehead. Another shot rang out and the man to Luke's left fell to the floor, before a third shot and forth shot rang out, as it seemed that both Luke and Ashton had shot at the next man. He fell to the floor dead too.

Panting hard, Luke turned around to see a red faced Ashton, smiling softly at him. He was about to rush over and embrace the man in his arms, when the smile on Ashton's face faded and he lifted his gun. Luke didn't have time to react, but Ashton did, firing a bullet and shoving Luke rapidly out of the way. 

Sitting up with an inhuman amount of speed, Luke turned around to run to Ashton, only to find him hunched over on the floor, a hand pressed firmly into his own side.

"Ash, what's wrong?!" Luke exclaimed, jumping over to where the twenty-three year old was bent over into himself.

Forcing Ashton to sit up straight, before lying him down, Luke noticed the blood that was all over his hands and how he hissed in pain.

"No! No! No!" Luke screamed, rushing to grab all of the bed sheets, so he could press them into Ashton's wound.

Tears were pouring from the blond's eyes, when he got back to Ashton, who was still trying to stop the bleeding. Luke prised his fingers away, so he could take a look at the damage. The bullet didn't seem to have entered far into Ashton's skin, as it was on the floor in its bloody glory. It seemed more of a flesh wound, but Luke couldn't be sure. He wasn't a doctor after all and only had basic medical training. He knew that internal bleeding was very possible, as it couldn't be seen from just looking at the wound.

Pushing the sheets onto the wound, Luke held them down as tightly as he possibly could, not wanting Ashton to bleed out if the wound was worse than inspected.

"You're going to be fine, Ash. Lukey's got you okay. Everything will be fine," Luke sobbed, ignoring Ashton's calling of his name several times during his blubbering, but he eventually stopped to listen, not meeting the elder man's eyes.

"Luke, _stop_. Just let me bleed out. _Let me die_ ," Ashton said, raising one of his hands to Luke's cheek.

"What?! Are you crazy?! There's no way in _Hell_ that I'm letting you bleed to death. The wound isn't that bad at a look. You can survive this, okay? You _will_ survive this," The blond yelled, only further pressing his hands onto Ashton's side.

The hand pressed into Luke's cheek moved underneath his chin and directed his head, so that he was looking Ashton in the eye.

"This is what the government want, Luke. They want me dead. They want you safe. If I die, you're free to go back to your old life, with you job and Michael and Calum. You won't be burdened with a criminal like me anymore. Just let me die," Ashton stated, a tear streaming from one of his hazel eyes.

Shocked at Ashton's words, Luke slapped him hard, still crying excessively himself. He didn't want Ashton to think that way.

"Shut the fuck up. You're not a burden, you're far from it! Don't you remember that I chose to live like this with you? You didn't force me, if anything it was the other way around, so don't feel like you're doing me a favour. I'm not letting you die and that's final."

Nodding, Ashton seemed to accept Luke's words.

"Well, you can't take me to the hospital; they'll recognise me and I'll end up either dead or in prison anyway," The twenty-three year old mumbled, cringing as a sharp pain ran through his side. 

"I know! I saw a pharmacy on the way here. I'll rush there, pick up some dressings, antibiotics and everything else that I may need. But that means I'll have to leave you for a few minutes. I don't want to leave you alone, Ash. What if those men had back up with them? What if they come and kill you when I'm gone? I-"

Suddenly, Luke was forced down and Ashton's lips were pressing against his. It was like his own remedy was being used on him, except Luke kissed back.

When Ashton pulled away from Luke, the two men's foreheads pressed tightly together and Luke could feel sweat forming on the other’s; he was visibly burning up.

"I'll be okay, Beautiful. I can fend for myself. You won't be gone long and I'll be surprised if they did have back up; they would've known they would outnumber us. I've only ever met two of them before, and the third today, but now they're all dead," Ashton murmured, playing with the tufts of hair that lined Luke's neck.

Still crying and shaking slightly, Luke nodded his head against Ashton's before, taking the man's huge hand from his neck and pressing it onto the sheets on the wound. He then stood up and ran over to the mattress area, pulling on his wig, snapback, Ashton's sunglasses and shoes, so he wouldn't be recognised. Lastly, the blond grasped whatever money he could to buy supplies, wiping his eyes as he did so.

"I promise I'll be a few minutes, Ash. Don't you _dare_ fall unconscious or anything and keep applying pressure onto your wound," Luke explained, stopping in front of the man on the floor for a few moments.

After Ashton had nodded at him, hurrying him off, the twenty-one year old picked up his gun and hid it in the waistband of his jeans, making sure the safety was on. There was a small chance that back-up may arrive for the dead men, so he needed to be prepared.

Once he'd wormed his way past the three bloody corpses, Luke headed for the door, but a small yell from Ashton made him stop momentarily.

" _I love you, Luke_."

The words that came from the older man's mouth only made Luke more determined to save his life. 

"I love you too, Ash. Now, I'll be back in a few. Stay strong."

Rushing from the room, Luke took off down the street, passing several confused bystanders, once he'd reached the main area. The pharmacy wasn't that far away, due to Luke's sprinting and he barrelled through the door, barely panting, as he was in shape and adrenaline was pumping through his body; he needed to save Ashton.

A few people gave the man worried looks, but Luke just grasped anything and everything that he thought he'd need: gauze, dressing, tablets, much more. He then shoved it on the desk and watched as the woman scanned each item, likely wondering why the man was buying so much. 

As soon as the woman had named the price, Luke shoved down enough money and muttered a "keep the change," before rushing back down the road to get to Ashton.

Once he arrived back at the house, he could hear faint groans of pain, which only made Luke fling the door open faster. The sight made him drop the bag of medical supplies on the floor.

"No, Ash, no, please no," Luke stammered.

All that Luke could see was that Ashton had shuffled his way along the floor to grasp one of the dead men's rifles, likely because his own handgun was out of ammo, and now pointed the object to his head.

"I'm sorry, Luke, but I need to set you free," Ashton cried, his hand shaking on his hold of the gun.

Stepping closer to the twenty-three year old, Luke pulled his own gun from his jeans and placed the barrel against his own head.

"If you go, I'm going too," He said, and although he was deadly serious, Luke didn't actually know if he'd be able to pull the trigger.

"Put the gun down," The elder man whispered, clenching his teeth as a sharp pain ran through his body.

Persisting to not back out on his ultimatum, Luke held his ground, hoping that Ashton cared enough to put his gun down and let Luke help him.

"I've got all we need, Ash. Let me help you, _please_. I don't want you to die. I _need_ you. I can't live without you. I don't want to go back to my normal life if it means you won't be there. Please. If you love me like you said you did, just drop the gun and let me help you," Luke pleaded, a couple of tears escaping his eyes, although he was trying to keep his emotions in.

"I've already told you though. Nobody needs me. _Nobody needs a criminal_. I'm worthless and I'm ruining your life," Ashton spluttered, causing Luke to get angry, very quickly.

"Can you not hear me?! _I_ need you! _I_ need you, Ash! You're not worthless. You're the best fucking thing that's ever happened to me and if you die, I'll have nothing, ok? I really will have fucking nothing. I don't care about my job. I don't care about anything else besides you, you complete idiot. I chose to be here," Luke shouted, storming closer to Ashton. "I _love_ you, so understand why I can't let you die, _please_!"

That was all it took for Ashton to break and he threw the rifle to the ground, watching as Luke's lip began to quiver. On seeing Ashton throw the gun away, Luke placed his handgun back in his jeans' waistband just in case it was needed again, before rushing to grab the supplies for Ashton.

"You're such an idiot, Ash. You scared me so much," Luke stuttered, picking up the sheets too and pushing them against Ashton's side for a few minutes.

Deciding it was time to do what he could, Luke got Ashton a glass of water and some painkillers, before removing the sheets from his side. The bleeding had almost stopped.

Time passed fairly quickly, as Luke did whatever needed to be done to Ashton's wound. The blond was the only one talking, making sure that Ashton was breathing correctly and that his blood pressure was fine.

Eventually, night fell and Luke observed that Ashton was in a much better condition than he was in the morning. He'd even carefully moved him onto one of the mattresses, so he was far away from the corpses of the other men, which they really needed to dispose of.

"Thank you, Lukey," Ashton whispered, as the two men lay next to each other.

"I already told you. I wasn't-" Luke began, but he was sharply cut off.

"I know. I didn't mean that. I meant, thank you for giving me a chance. Thank you for sticking with me. Thank you."

Luke sighed, content that Ashton was still here with him and that he didn't hate him. He was glad the man eventually gave up for Luke.

Instead of responding with words, Luke sat up to hover over Ashton, before leaning down and planting a sweet kiss on the twenty-three year old's lips. He ran his hand through Ashton's matted curls, whilst kissing him with all he had.

"What did I do to deserve you?" Luke murmured against Ashton's lips.

The elder man brushed Luke's floppy fringe from his forehead, running his finger tips across his face. A crooked smile wormed its way onto his lips.

" _You saved me_."

**Author's Note:**

> leave any thoughts, please or if you have any ideas for lashton one shots and i'll try and write it at some point


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